Gulf Coast Wedding by Maggie Miller

Chapter Thirty-five

“No,” Travis said. “Not tonight, Lavinia.”

He reached for the door, about to shut it. He was not letting that woman ruin this perfect evening.

“Wait.” She stuck her hand out, her gaze aimed longingly toward the sounds of music and laughter. “Please. Just give me a second.”

He shook his head. “Not happening. You’ve had plenty of seconds. Your time was up a long while back.”

Georgia put her hand on Travis arm, the look in her eyes one of curiosity and maybe a hint of sympathy. “Hang on.”

If not for how much he valued her opinion, he would have shut the door. Instead, he let it remain open, sighing with displeasure. It was hard to feel anything else where Lavinia was concerned.

“Let’s hear what she has to say.” Georgia pointed behind Lavinia. “But outside. We’re not doing this in here.” She stepped onto the porch.

Travis followed, closing the door behind him. The temperature had dropped, announcing that fall had definitely arrived in Blackbird Beach and winter was soon to follow.

Or maybe that was just Lavinia’s presence. He kept an eye on Georgia to make sure she wasn’t chilly. Although getting Lavinia out of here as fast as possible would solve that. “Well? What do you want?”

Lavinia swallowed and in the sallow gleam of the porch lights, she suddenly looked small and frail and very much her age. “I want to say…I’m sorry.” She held her hands up. “I know you probably won’t believe me. Just like I realize I may never have your forgiveness. I’m not sure I deserve it, really.”

Georgia glanced at Travis with an expression of sheer surprise. He was sure his face looked pretty similar.

Lavinia went on. “Which is why I don’t expect it. Not in this town. And not from any of you. But I wanted to at least tell you that I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot of time to think lately.”

There was something oddly calm about her. Usually when Lavinia showed up, she was in a state, filled with a kind of frantic energy that made her seem like she was about to explode. There wasn’t a hint of that right now. In fact, if Travis had to pick one word to describe her it would have been resolved.

She stared toward the street. “I’ve also been shown a few things. And done some soul searching.” She laughed sharply. “That wasn’t fun.”

Neither he nor Georgia said anything. It didn’t seem like the time, frankly.

Lavinia went on, taking a long breath. “Losing that election was…hard.”

Georgia spoke softly. “I suspected it might be.”

Lavinia finally made eye contact with Travis again. “I’m glad you won. You probably don’t believe that, but it’s true.”

“I’m not sure what I believe at this point.” She couldn’t blame him for that. Not after the years of history they shared.

A hint of smile bent her mouth, then disappeared again. “Valid response. I haven’t been very nice to you over the years.”

That was an understatement. But he was glad to hear her acknowledge that truth. “You haven’t been very nice to anyone.”

She frowned. “That’s not entirely true.” She sighed. “I’ve been nice when it suited me.” She shook her head. “None of that matters now. The election showed me the truth of things. That was a difficult lesson, but one I clearly needed to learn.”

Georgia tipped her head. “I’m sure this isn’t easy for you to do, either.”

Lavinia glanced at her. “No, it’s not. But it needs to be done. I’m sorry for the hassle I put you through as well. What happened between your aunt and I was history and I should have let it stay in the past. Not taken it out on you.”

Georgia nodded. “Thank you.”

Lavinia smiled a little as she glanced at the house. “The inn looks just like it used to. Norma would be proud. And it will be great for this town to have such a nice place to stay. It will absolutely bring business in.”

Travis was starting to think he’d had too much champagne, except they hadn’t even gotten to that yet. Was this really happening? “Are you telling me that losing the election is what brought all of this on? Not everything with Sam? Not losing the ability to see Clayton? Not being censured by the council? None of that?”

Lavinia exhaled and was silent for a moment. “Those things made cracks in the wall. Cracks I was sure I could repair. But losing the election, something I really believed I had sewn up, made me realize just how wrong I was. I suppose you could say it was the proverbial last straw.”

She laughed then, a bitter, sad sound. “I guess I’m a slow learner. Or maybe I’m just stubborn. My mother was hard-headed. I must take after her. Whatever the reason, I’ve finally come to realize that whatever years I have left, I don’t want to live them like this.”

A long stretch of silence passed between them. Travis didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t really prepared to forgive and forget so easily. Not when this could just be another one of her attempts at manipulation. After all, the timing was a little suspicious.

Then Lavinia dug into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I know the kids got married. Please give this to Sam for me, would you? I won’t ask for anything else.”

Travis took it and she started down the steps. He unfolded the paper. It was a check. For twenty-five thousand dollars, made out to Samantha Taylor. He held it up to the light to make sure he was seeing it correctly. “Lavinia, is this for real?”

She paused at the bottom of the steps, hand on the railing. “Yes. I know it doesn’t make up for everything I’ve done, but I’m hoping it helps them with the new house. Or whatever they want to use it for. No strings. I promise.”

Georgia took a step forward. “You know about the house?”

“Sure.” Lavinia nodded. “I am a realtor, you know.”

Georgia looked at Travis. “She knew about the house and didn’t do anything to interfere.”

He hated to admit that Georgia was right, but only because it was about Lavinia. He shrugged. “It all happened pretty fast.”

“True.” Georgia glanced at the check. “Maybe you should at least talk to Sam, though. This is partly her decision to make.”

He wasn’t quite there yet. He needed more answers. He looked at Lavinia again. “What happened to Jillian?”

Lavinia blinked up at him. “You mean after she showed up at your house? She got arrested for DUI. I bailed her out, sobered her up, and sent her home the next day. I promise she won’t bother you again. I won’t either. Although, you might see me at Clayton’s football games.”

He was surprised she hadn’t shown up there already.

Her sigh this time was weaker and a little ragged. “I hope you can live with that. I miss him.”

On the last word, her voice broke and she let out a little sob. Travis had never seen her cry.

Georgia went down the steps and hugged Lavinia. The woman leaned into her arms and began to weep in earnest.

Travis slipped back inside. He went straight to the breakfast room. Everyone looked at him expectantly. The cake hadn’t been cut and the champagne remained untouched. “Sam? Can I see you for a moment?”

She came to his side. “Is everything all right? What’s going on?”

“I need to show you something.” He took her to the front door and opened it. Lavinia was still sobbing in Georgia’s arms. “Your grandmother has come to apologize.”

Sam’s mouth was open, but her eyes held disbelief.

Travis showed her the check. “She brought this too. No strings. She said it was for the new house or whatever you needed.”

Sam looked at it but shook her head. “I don’t know what to make of all this.”

“I don’t either, but it doesn’t feel like a decision I should make for you.”

Lavinia glanced up, saw Sam in her wedding gown, and started crying all over again. “Y-you l-look beautiful, S-Sam.”

“Grandma, what is going on?”

Lavinia broke away from Georgia to face her granddaughter. She took a big sniff and wiped at her eyes. “I just wanted to apologize for all the pain and aggravation I’ve caused. I know I’ve been awful and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all of it. For everything I’ve ever done to you. For everything I’ve put you and Clayton through. Levi too. I’d like to apologize to him. And Denise. To everyone, really.”

Sam took one step toward her grandmother. “You really mean that?”

“With all of my heart. I know I made a mess of things. I was a bully. I was…not a nice person. To anyone. But especially to my family.” She looked away again. “I’m sorry about everything. I’m tired of living like this. It’s no life.”

Sam flew down the steps to hug her grandmother.

Travis wasn’t quite at the hugging stage, but Lavinia did seem to be sincere. He had his doubts, that was a given, but he trusted Georgia’s character assessment and she seemed to be treating Lavinia like this was all the real deal.

If it wasn’t? If this was some new game of Lavinia’s? There would be hell to pay. And Lavinia’s twenty-five-thousand-dollar check wouldn’t begin to cover it.